jwells777

I have read a few research articles that indicate that many overweight individuals feel that they eat a "normal" amount of food when in fact they are eating quite a bit more than a normal person. I would imagine that similarly, a skinny persorn might feel that they eat "alot" of food when in fact they may eat just a normal amount.

So my question is, given that your body is simply a relatively complex bio-chemical system, is there any credence to the notion of a "fast" or "slow" metabolism. That is, does everyone really burn x amount of calories per kg of muscle/fat/etc. with y amount of exertion and it is merely our perception of our activity/intake that gives rise to the notion of a "fast" or "slow" metabolism. Or is there actually some chemical differences in the body that makes the metabolism of one individual different from the next?

I am interested to here other people's opinion on this...

cait987

Its a odd situation honestly, I have people in my family who have a sick metabolism and then others who have a terrible one (me, haha). My cousin for example can eat 3500 calories in a day and doesnt move around a ton yet he weighs like 140 pounds at age 2X, while me on the other hand, I eat everything healthy and do lose weight but I cant stuff my face with french fries and hamburgers like he does. Odd thing is, I have like 1/3 more muscle mass then him so technically my metabolism should be higher, but somehow his puts mine to shame.

The thing is, everyone wants a fast metabolism but then, can you afford it? My cousin cant afford shit because hes always hungry and has to spend massive money buying food, so its a double edged sword I guess.

Personally though, there is something at work more then just metabolism because I can name quite a few people who should have a metabolism of about 2000 yet theirs is in the 3000 - 3500 calorie burning range.

Rodney

Yes, some people burn it off and some don't. When I was 18 or 20 I could eat a medium pizza a day and drink a liter or two of soft drinks every night, on top of my regular meals (worked in a pizzeria) and not gain weight. There were other people my age who just couldn't do that.

My wife is very heavy, and I know she doesn't eat much. She's fairly sedentary because of her job, but I know other people who eat more and do less, but weight less.

Metabolism does slow as you get older. I couldn't eat what I ate at 18 without 1) feeling sick and 2) putting on some serious poundage. On the other hand, putting on muscle "speeds" your metabolism, in a way, because your body needs to burn more energy just to maintain the extra muscle mass, before you even do any exercise. That's probably one reason I don't have the basketball-sized gut my dad had when he was my age. That, and the four beers a day he drunk which I don't.

On the other hand, when I was younger, I would literally get hot about 15 minutes after a meal and stay that way for a while. I think I was literally burning off calories as heat. That stopped happening in my late '30s, about the same time when I had to start changing my diet more to maintain my weight. Still happens occasionally, if I've had a long day of physical labor.

VitaminH

Everyone's body chemistry is different, and everyone has their own unique metabolic rate, based off your genetics. Part of it is of course food intake, and the reason these overwieght people eat more and think they eat a normal amount is because 1)that is what has become the norm to them because thats what they have eaten for an extended period of time and 2) because they are bigger they require more food and they eat what fills them up, as a result they assume enough to fill them up is the 'normal' amount. Body chemistry is important though.

__________________
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skysooner

Sure there is a difference, but most people fall around a norm that says if you eat only a certain amount of calories you will lose weight. The more you weigh, the more calories you can eat and still lose weight. This is just due to the normal tendency of the body to chew up more calories based on your size.

Metabolish generally starts off slow, peaks in the late afternoon and tends to die off during the day. To burn more calories, it is a good idea to eat at least something for breakfast (even if it is just a 50 cal snack). It helps jump start your metabolism earlier and gets the body working on fat stores. By the same reasoning, it is a bad idea to eat stuff late in the day as your metabolism is already low and will be lower when you sleep. I eat a small snack for breakast, eat a fairly large lunch and then a pretty small dinner with a snack around 7 pm.

As for larger people eating what they think is a normal amount of food (and it being too much), this is also perfectly normal. Some of this is just out of habit. I used to eat till I was full quite often. As a consequence, I gained about 50 lbs over the last 4 years. It was only when I went on Weight Watchers that put a point value for food down that I could start to gauge what I could eat and lose weight. The first 6 weeks were hell as my body was often sending me starving messages although I wasn't physically weak. As I got used to eating less, these feelings subsided quite a bit. I still feel hungry on occasion, but I'm much better able to control it through proper diet and excercise (which reduces my hungry feelings). As a consequence, I have lose 74 lbs at the moment with 6 more to go to hit my Weight Watcher's goal weight.